Crafty Ribbons Challenge

I was lucky enough to be selected for the Crafty Ribbons latest challenge and received a gorgeous bundle of their new exclusive organza ribbons to play with. There were so many I was a bit overwhelmed as to which ones to use!

This is a post it note holder and a simple any occasion card (and look not a drop of distress ink in sight!!!).

This is what it looks like inside

and this is my card

I'd like to enter the Post It Note Holder into the following challenges:
For Fun Challenges - Anything goes with ribbon or lace
Totally Stampalicious - Anything but a card

I'd like to enter the Card into the following challenges:
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - a non Christmas card
Allsorts - Inspiration from garden or park
Crafty Cardmakers - Glitter and Sparkle
Bee Crafty - Anything goes
Crafty Emmas - Anything goes
Sarah Hurley - Monochrome
OSATT - Girly
Cowgirl Up - Flower Power

Concertina Birthday Card

It's DS birthday next week and he'll be a whole nine years old! When your nine character cards are just not cool (apparently)!! So, I've had to get my thinking cap on for this one! Please accept my apologies for the poor photographs in this post, but the card was a nightmare to photograph!

I came across some Sugar Nellie Skull Boyz stamps, which as he's really into JD Bugging and Skateboarding at the moment, seemed ideal. Much to my surprise he's also desperate for personalised items (we were in a shop and he got really cross that there were no items with his name on), so I thought I'd try and incorporate his name into the card. I'd also seen instructions for a concertina card in Papercraft Inspirations magazine that I wanted to try.

Anyway, this is what I've come up with, I really hope he likes it.

The opened card

The front of the card when closed

close up 1

Close up 2

Close up 3

The card base is made from DP's that are folded to make frames. I've then inserted mirror board into the frame to give it some rigidity. The card has then been decorated with a number of images and embellishments. The card measures 3" x 3" when folded.

Tools
Sizzix Bigshot
Cuttlebug Diamond Grid Embossing Folder
Martha Stewart Scoreboard
Purple Cows Guillotine

Materials
Papers - Prima My Guy
Mirror Board - Anitas
Images - Sugar Nellie
Woodware Chipboard Alphabet
Bottle Cap - Wilkinsons
Promarkers
Glossy Accents
Card Candy - Craftwork Cards

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
C.R.A.F.T - Milestones/Birthdays
City Crafter - I see stars
Totally Stampalicious - Texture
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Blue & Green
The Corrosive Challenge - For the Guys
Cards for Men - Decoupage
Crafty Cardmakers - Video Inspiration (diamond grid, black and Red Rockstar paper)
Donna's Den of Craft - Decoupage
Creative Craft - Transport (Skateboard)
Lexi's Creations - Emboss It
Meljens - Happy Birthday
Paper Cutz - use some metal (the bottlecap embellishment)
Crazy 4 Challenges - Lattice (silver embossed diamond grid/lattice pattern)
Pixie Dust Studio - Stitch it Up
Sew Many Challenges - Happy Birthday
Allsorts - Less than 3" (the card when folded up measures 3" x 3")
CES Challenge - Anything goes 

Stamping With The Dragon Birthday Blog Hop

Well today is the final day of our Birthday Celebrations and we're hosting a birthday blog hop. Please come and join us as there are lots of lovely prizes and candy on offer! I have surprise candy on offer.

To be in with a chance of winning you must:

1) Become a follower
2) Submit your details to Mr Linky
3) Comment on this post and the other girls in the hop posts (there's a list below just in case you get lost)
4) Check back to see if you're a winner

If you make a post about our Birthday Bash and Blog Hop on your blog you will receive an additional chance to win.

We will be checking to make sure the rules have been followed ;)

If you haven't entered already, pop over to Beth's Blog and enter her Birthday Card Challenge - she has fab prize for you!! Also don't forget to enter Sammi's Name the Paperpack and Tams Hot Cheesy Balls competitions.

OK, back to the blog hop, lets get going!!! If you're already taking part in the hop you should've come to me from Robin's blog and your next port of call will be Beth's blog. If you're not already taking part then hop on over to Janette's blog and follow the trail from there! There's a full list of the blogs participating below. So what are you waiting for? Off you go, have fun and good luck!!!

Janette
Sammi
Tams
Stitchy
Scrappy
Donna
Natalyia
Tammy
Robin
Me
Beth
Jenny

Travel Sewing Kit

Don't you just hate it when your out and about and spot a loose button or a thread hanging on yourself or one of your kids? What do you mean no? Surely I can't be the only one who almost always has one of those little plastic sewing kits in my purse? Well maybe I am, but I love my kits and think that they're brilliant, but soooo ugly, so I've made myself this little travel sewing kit.

I've filled it with these cute little accessories

This is how it looks from the side

And just to show that it does all fit in there

Tools
Purple Cows Guilotine
Martha Stewart Scoreboard
Tim Holtz Blender Tool
X-cut Border Punch


Materials
Images - Dragon's Lair Designs
Cardboard (I used the back of an old sketch pad)
Papers - K&Co Hopscotch
Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Victorian Velvet, Walnut Stain, Tea Dye
Velcro - from stash
Buttons - Woodware
Glossy Accents
Sentiment - computer generated
Promarker fine liner
Promarkers - Blender, Gold, Silver, Pear Green, Sunkissed Pink & Walnut
Sewing bits n bobs from my ugly plastic kit :)

I'd like to enter this little kit into the following challenges:
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Vintage
One Stop Craft Challenge - Not a card
I did it creations - anything but a card
Stamptacular Sunday - two's better than one (three images used)
Simon Says Stamp and Show - anything Tim Holtz Inspired
Sarah Hurley - Anything but a card
Papercutz - use some metal

Birthday Bash!

Yay it's birthday time again - and I love birthdays (not too keen on the another year older malarkey, but love the cards and gifts that come with the day and getting to see all my friends and family)!

As you probably know from my earlier posts this week, we're celebrating two birthdays - Stamping Dragon Designs is one and it's creator Janette is also having a birthday. To mark the occasion we've got a week of fun and games. If you've missed my post announcing the start of the fun worry not, you still have plenty of time to join in with the fun! Simply pop over to Sammi's blog where she has a competition to name a gorgeous paper pack, then continue on to Tams blog where she has her now legendary cheesy balls!! Once you've done that stop by at  Beth's blog where she is hosting a special birthday card challenge with a fantastic prize for the winner, and as if that wasn't enough we have a really special event planned for the 28th (there could be lots of candy involved!!), so be sure to pop on here or over to Janette's blog on the day for all the details.

Oh and in all my excitement I almost forgot to show you the card I made!  

I've used Rupert's Birthday from Dragon's Lair Designs which is currently on offer for an amazing $0.99. The image has been coloured with Promarkers and then stickled and Glossy Accented. I've cut the image out and used silicone glue to mount it on a circle of Core-dinations Gemstones. The edge of the circle and the sentiment have been inked with Distress Inks.

The flowers have been punched, embossed and coloured with Promarkers and then given a burst of Glimmer Mist.

Tools
Big Shot
Nestabilities - Large Circles
Purple Cows Deckle Edge Trimmer
Tim Holtz Blender Tool

Materials
Card Base - Craftwork Cards
DP - Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen
Core-dinations Gemstones Card
Image - Dragons Lair Designs
Green Crystals - stash
Pearls - The Works
Stickles - Stardust & Diamond
Glimmer Mist - Diamond
Promarkers
Silicone Glue
Ribbon - from stash, coloured with Promarkers
Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Dusty Concord
Sentiment - stash

I'd like to enter the following challenges:
Stampin' for the Weekend - Anything goes
Paper Cutz - Anything goes
Wild Orchid - Make it Sparkle
Stamp Something - Digi Day
Craft Your Passion - Make a flower
Craft Your Days Away - With wings
Creative Card Crew - Sparkle & shine
A Pocket Full of Posies - Winged things
Magical Monday - Flowers
Crafts & Me - Petals & Pearls
Stamp & Create - Flowers
Meljens - Birthdays
C.R.A.F.T - Milestone Birthdays
Charisma Cards - hot, hot, hot (the candle flame)

Blog Award

I've been meaning to get round to posting this award for a few days now, but what with holidays, migraines and the excitement of my new DT position I just don't seem to have had the time. I am extremely honoured at the number of people who nominated me for this award - so thank you for thinking of me, it's really appreciated.

After getting the award you have to:

1) Thank the person who gave you the award.... The following lovelies gave me this award so thank you!
Peppop
Karen
Jan
Fifi
Claire
Judie

2) Post the award....



3) List 3 things you like about yourself:

Well this is a tricky one, but here goes:

I'm not a quitter - if things don't go right I'll keep going until they do, even if I have to throw in a few well chosen words!! ;)

I never judge anyone - and yes I am that woman on the bus and in the supermarket queue who ends with the random nutter that everyone else manages to avoid!! But at least they quite often make me laugh and I don't get bored!!

I live life for today and try to make the most of every day - you never know what life has in store for you, so don't waste a second!

4) Post a favourite photo



















Me & my lovely family. It's a favourite on so many levels and I think really it speaks for itself!

5) Pass it on to 5 people (sorry if you've already had it):

Chris
Dawn
Angela
Sally
Janette

We're celebrating!!!

It's Stamping Dragon Designs 1st Birthday this weekend and it's creator Janette is also celebrating her birthday! To mark the occasion we have some fun and games planned. There will be lots of prizes up for grabs, so why not pop by and join us?

The fun is kicking off today over at Sammi's blog where she has a fab name the paper pack competition and further details of our celebration plans.

CDAC Giveaway

Wow look what's on offer over at CDAC, this fab digital drawing tablet.


To be in with a chance to win, pop on over and follow the instructions.

Stamping With The Dragon Challenge 8 - Sketch

Well here it is, my first DT card for Stamping With The Dragon!

The challenge this week is a sketch for you to follow and it is sponsered by Stamping Dragon Designs. The winner will receive 4 images of their choice. If you need some inspiration, pop over to the challenge blog to take a peep at what the other DT girls have been upto.

The image has been printed out twice onto card. I've made a mask and then created a distressed ink background which has then been sprayed with Glimmer Mist to give it a subtle sparkle. The moon has been coated with Stickles. The hearts have been coloured with Promarkers and given a coat of Glossy Accents. I've used a Letraset Fine Marker to draw the woodgrain.

Tools
Tim Holtz Blender Tool
Tim Holtz Distressing Tool

Materials
Image - Purfect Love available from here
Black Card - The Papermill
DP's - Basic Grey
Glossy Accents
Promarkers - Cool Grey 1 - 5, Black Fineliner
Stickles - Stardust
Distress Inks - Scattered Straw, Forrest Moss and Walnut Stain
Glimmer Mist - Diamond
String from stash
Sentiment - computer generated

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Digidoodles Shops Best - Anything goes

Spring Beauty Birthday Card

My lovely friend will be 40 next week and she's soooo not looking forward to it! I wanted to make her a special card but avoid all reference to her age, this is what I've come up with.

The digi stamp from Stamping Dragon Designs has been printed out twice onto card. I've created a mask for her face and then used distress inks to create a background. I've used Promarkers for her skin, odd strands of hair and the flowers and leaves. The entire image has then been given a spritz of Glimmer Mist. I've distressed the edges of the image and then mounted it onto black card to try and add some depth. The flowers have been made using my new Tattered Florals die - I created a paper using inks, spritzed it with Glimmer Mist and then highlighted the edge of the petals with Stickles.

Tools
Purple Cows Guillotine
Tim Holtz Distressing Tool
Tim Holtz Blender Tool
Sizzix Big Shot
Sizzix Tattered Florals Die
Fern Die - Little Claire's

Materials
Image - Spring Beauty by Stamping Dragon Designs
White/Black Card - The Papermill
Blue Shimmer Paper - from stash
Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Spun Sugar, Broken China, Victorian Velvet, Dusty Concord
Stickles - Stardust
Glimmer Mist - Diamond
Promarkers - Slate, Lilac, Ivory, Blush, Rose Pink
Diamantes - Poundland

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
The Stampman - Easel Card/Anything goes
City Crafter - Isn't she lovely
Papertake Weekly - Something Old, Blue, Borrowed or New
Craft Your Passion - Anything goes
Penny's Paper-Crafty - Anything Goes
If the Shoe Fits - Die Cuts
Crafty Cardmakers - Birthdays
Wild Orchid Challenge - One for the Girls
My Time to Craft - Glitter & Glitz
Charisma Cards - Easel Card
Crafty Sentiments - Distressing
The Crafty Pad - Glitz & Glitter
The Artistic Stamper - Something Old, Something New (my new TH die, old paper from stash)
The Secret Crafter - What are little girls made of
Simon Says Stamp & Show - The Wendy Vecchi - Studio 490 Style
Mark's Finest Papers - Flowers

Exciting news to share

Well it's exciting for me! LOL and I've been bursting to tell everyone and now I can........

I'm on the Stamping With The Dragon DT - yay!!  Not really excited - much :)

Without turning this into an Oscars acceptance speech - LOL, I feel that I need to say a huge thank you to all my lovely followers. Without your words of encouragement and praise I'm sure I would've never considered applying. So thank you and I hope that I can continue to count on your support in the future? x

I can't wait to get started and hope that you will continue to enjoy my creations as much as I enjoy creating them! Watch this space as I already have something in the pipeline :)

It's a Christmas Dragon!

There's a DT call over at Stampin Dragon Designs and this image of Jiggy has been supplied for applicants to play with! It's a fab image and as soon as I saw it I knew what I wanted to do with it. I'm afraid there are quite a few pictures in this post, so the page maybe slower than normal to load - sorry!

Jiggy has been coloured with Promakers, his wings have been given the stickles treatment and he's had a Glossy Accents manicure. I've cut him and the frame out and then filled the aperture with coloured card. The holly wreath was one of those jobs I started and regretted! I couldn't find my holly leaf punch and as result ended up cutting out hundreds (well a slight exaggeration, but it certainly felt like hundreds) of leaves. They've then been curled slightly and glued onto the frame and given a coating of distress stickles. I've then dotted red glitter glue around the wreath and added some candy canes and ribbons.

The base card and DP's have been distressed and the edges inked as have the sentiments. To finish the card off I've added some faux stitching and some card candy.

Tools
Tim Holtz Blender Tool
Tim Holtz Distressing Tool

Materials
Base card - Craftwork Cards
DP's - Papermania, Home for Christmas
Plain coloured papers/card - from stash
Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Tea Dye, Walnut Stain
Image - Stampin Dragon Designs
Sentiments - Papermania
Card Candy - Craftwork Cards
Promarkers - leaf green, forest green, moss green and mulberry
Gold and white gel pens - from stash
Stickles - Forest Moss and Diamond
Candy Canes - from stash
Ribbon - white ribbon from stash coloured with Promarkers

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Stampin with the Dragon - Distressing
Cupcake Craft Challenge - Distressing
Totally Stampalicious - Inside Out
The Pink Elephant Challenge - Something Yummy
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge - Out of This World
Paper Pretties - Glitter
One Stop Craft Challenge - Patterns
Paper Sundaes - Stitching
Ellephantastic Challenge - Distressing
Our Creative Corner - All about Christmas
Christmas Card Challenges - Non- traditional image
City Crafter - Yum